


Scales Shine Gold

by Silver52PenofTime



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Because dragons are fucking rad, Because of Reasons, Billdip maybe, Don't really know where this is going yet, Fhddnvjj dragons, Gen, I have limits to what I am comfortable writing, I mean come on, I really just wanted to write about dragons, In a nonromantic sense because Bill is a freaking dragon, Yeah we'll see where this goes, asexual!dipper, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4279476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver52PenofTime/pseuds/Silver52PenofTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragon AU I'm calling Fire Falls. Newly hatched siblings Bill and Tad have to stick together after the death of their family. While they struggle for life in the mountains above Gravity Falls, Mabel and Dipper Pines learn the brutal but lucrative art of dragon slaying. Things don't bode well for anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Overwhelming Newness

This place used to be comfortable. Sure, it got a little cramped after a while, but it was warm and safe. He could sleep as much as he wanted, and once his eyes began opening, he could make out vague shapes through the thin shell encasing him. He liked most of the shapes; they were large and comforting and made him feel safe, protected. He didn't have to worry about anything with the shapes around. 

That had all changed rather suddenly one day. He felt his small prison being shifted into a crevice, and it got cold and dark. He didn't like the cold, wanted to thrash and roar and protest. He tried to move, roll himself out and back to the shapes, which he had just realized were gone. He became frustrated when he found that he couldn't move at all. 

Now, he felt irritated. His small space had grown smaller, and he had been sitting in the cold, dark place for several days now. Everything itched, and it was annoying him. He wanted out. He squirmed in his space, and an electric shock rocketed through him at the sharp sound of something cracking. That was a new sound, and its newness made him pause. Detecting no sign of danger, he shifted again, snapping his head forward against the shell. It cracked again, and a cool burst of air had him gasping. 

The tiny creature sat and took in the musty-scented air greedily, overwhelmed by the new sensation of lungs pumping. The air had a mixture of smells to it; earth and stone and moisture and moss...and something that stung bitter in his nostrils. He struggled to worm his way out of the rest of the shell, eager to stretch and explore. With a final kick, the hatchling was free. 

A tiny golden dragon flopped clumsily out of its broken egg shell and onto the cold stone ground of the cave. It was covered with a viscous membrane, clinging tight to its little body. The hatchling stood on shaky legs and clawed the sticky thing off of it, peering around with large blue eyes. Once its vision cleared, the young male could see that his egg had been pushed into a deep crack in the wall of a much larger cavern. An empty shell next to his made it clear that he wasn't the only one. 

He carefully climbed out of the crevice to investigate. The sight that met his eyes was horrific. The cave itself was large and dark, light filtering in only through a large frontal entrance. Lying near the entrance to the cave was a massive dead dragon. It had been mutilated beyond recognition; the hatchling couldn't tell if it had been his mother or father. It appeared to have been there for a while, as it was in a substantial state of decay. Flies buzzed around it, and they made him angry. 

He trumpeted out a battle cry (which sounded more like a chicken having a seizure) and ran at the body. His stumbling attack did nothing to deter the flies, but it did alert the other hatchling to his presence. A slightly larger male poked his head out from behind the rotting corpse, watching with curious black eyes as his newly hatched brother skidded to a stop. Both eyed the other warily, tilting their heads and sizing each other up. The older male was a deep blue, and was a little thicker than the gold, though he could only be a few hours older at most. He stood still as he eyed the younger male, eyes narrowing. 

The older brother moved first, slowly approaching the younger one and sitting in front of him. The two stared at one another for a moment before speaking in the garbled, piecemeal babblings of infant dragons. 

“No hurt?” The blue spoke first. 

“No hurt. What happen?” The gold replied. 

“Don't know. Fight. Just hatch.” 

The gold nodded and looked around. It was going to be difficult to survive without parents. The hatchlings didn't have wings or fire yet; they were about as dangerous as geckos. They couldn't stay in the cave for long. Whatever had killed their mother or father, or both, could return at any moment. Something that could kill an adult dragon could easily take out a hatchling. Their only real hope would be to stick together. Only together could they hope to live to breathe their first fire, and grow their wings. Maybe then they could find whatever had done this to their family. 

“We stay together.” The gold spoke authoritatively. 

The blue seemed to have reached the same conclusion. 

“Stay together.”


	2. Pines Family Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stanley Pines pulls his last big job before retiring to a quiet life of ripping off tourists.

Stanley Pines shifted his gun across his back and kept climbing. One more job, one hopefully easy job, and he could retire. He had made his pay, had earned his fame. Soon enough it would be time for his grand-neice and nephew to take over the Pines family business. It wasn't an easy or pleasant job, but someone had to do it. His brother Stanford usually joined him, but the six-fingered nerd was busy with another journal. Stanley snorted. He slayed dragons, and his brother wrote about them. What a pair they made. 

The older man stopped outside the target cavern and slowly peeked inside. He could vaguely make out two large shapes moving within. He quickly pulled away and found a nook to hide in. There was no way he was going in there while the male was still around. From what he had heard, he was a strong dragon with a long history of outwitting slayers. Stanley was too old for that shit. 

He was lucky in that he only had to wait an hour. The male would be going out a lot, hunting to provide food for his nesting mate. Stanley pushed himself deeper into his nook as a huge bronze dragon walked out of the cave. He was massive, with eight curved horns curling in a tangled mass on his head. His body was littered with a maze of battle scars, and he appeared to be missing most of his tail. The male looked around with cold green eyes, growling. Deeming it safe to leave, he opened his massive wings and took off, flying powerfully toward the Gravity Falls forest. 

Okay, it was now or never. He had to get in and out, and do it quickly. Things would go horribly wrong if that monster returned before he was done. Stanley strode quickly into the cave, eyes falling on a thin, wiry green female. She looked up at him and snorted, eyes going wide in panic. She understood what was happening, and stood shakily, standing over the five eggs she had been sitting over. 

“You know why I'm here. You made a deal and went back on your word.” Stanley spoke clearly, using the dragon language he had learned over the years. 

“They wanted our clutch. Would you give away your offspring?” The female shot back at him. 

“Doesn't matter. I have a job to do, so you can let me take them and go, or I can do this the bloody way.” 

The female growled her answer, baring her teeth at him. Stanley sighed and pulled his gun off his back. He really wished it didn't come to this. Nesting females were usually too weak to do much fighting; sitting on a nest didn't do much to keep the muscles strong. He didn't like fighting a creature that was pretty much helpless. The female snarled and swung her tail at him, and he barely avoided it. He rolled to the side and shouldered the large gun, aiming at her head; quick and easy, one shot would do it. 

The female seemed to realize that she wouldn't be able to fight him off. She turned quickly, keeping her eyes on him as she set to work trying to move her eggs into a deep crevice with her tail. She also roared as loud as she could, trying to alert her mate and bring him home. Stanley swore under his breath and shot, hitting his target expertly. With an explosion of bone and sinew, the female fell dead to the ground. 

Stanley sighed and walked to the nest to survey the damage. Two eggs had been rolled into a deep crevice, and he couldn't reach them. Well, his client didn't know how many eggs had been in the clutch, and what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. One egg had been smashed when the female had fallen, which was a mistake on his part. 

“Well, two dragon eggs will still sell.” The gruff older man scooped them up and set them in a bag on his back. 

Once he was sure the eggs were settled and safe, he went to the corpse and pulled a knife from his boot. He knelt down and began plucking scales from the body; dragon scales sold for a pretty penny these days. Once he had as many as he could get in a short amount of time, he scooped up as many unbroken teeth as he could find. Dipper and Stanford would like these. 

Stanley slunk out of the cavern quickly, practically running down the mountain toward home. He didn't want to be anywhere near this place when the father returned. Dead mate, one egg smashed, two really missing, and the other two lodged so deep into that crevice that he might not even see them. Yeah, the old brute was gonna be PISSED. Stanley ducked into the forest and ran through the trees. He was on the home stretch now. If he could just make it to the Mystery Shack, he would be safe. 

A shrill roar made him freeze in his tracks, clinging to a tree. The male must have returned home. He peeked up into the sky just in time to see the huge creature wheel past, roaring loudly, searching. He sat and waited, hoping the monster would turn back toward the mountains to search there. There were many small towns nearby, with dragon slayers in each. None were as skilled as he, but any of them could be responsible for the act. 

It took an hour for the dragon to turn away from the forest, directing his enraged search toward the mountains. Stanley ran the rest of the way home. He would have the eggs sent to his client, then he would be done with dragon slaying for the rest of his life. He could hardly wait for retirement. He had been looking forward to this since his father had dragged him into the family business. No one really enjoying killing; well, at least, he hoped that was true. 

He sighed with relief when the Mystery Shack came into view. It was a welcoming sight; the old tourist trap sang of safety and cold beer, and he needed both. He spotted his twin sitting on the porch, waiting for him. The six-fingered twin grinned once he spotted him. 

“Good to see you alive. I thought for sure that old bronze had killed you. He looked furious, circled over town a few times. Scared the shit out of McGucket.” Stanford chuckled and shook his head. 

“He has every right to be pissed, I had to shoot the female. I figured I would have to, though I hoped not. Anyway, I got two eggs to send out and a whole bag of scales and teeth. We'll be set for a long while.” Stanley smiled and sat down, setting his bags and gun aside. 

“Good,” Stanford paused at the sound of hurried footsteps, “Here comes the welcome wagon.” 

Within seconds Stanley had two children clinging to him. One was his great-neice, Mabel, who was chatting a mile a minute about how worried she'd been, how cool the dragon had looked, same old same old. The other was the shyer twin, Dipper, who was quietly asking about what had happened. Both were only twelve years old, still training in dragon slaying. 

Mabel had surprised them early on by being more willing and skilled in the actual slaying. She was a kind and sweet girl, but under that layer of candy and sugar was a complex aggression that they couldn't begin to understand. She didn't enjoy the job, but she was a lot more willing to do it and better at it than Dipper. Dipper preferred learning about the creatures to killing them. He had followed in Stanford's more scientific shoes, studying dragons as opposed to killing them. Still, both were still learning; they wouldn't begin hunting real beasts for many years yet. 

“So what happened!? Tell us everything, though maybe lay easy on the gore.” Mabel sat on one side of him, with Dipper on the other. 

“Alright, here we go. I'll call this one The Tale of The Last Hunt.” Stanley cleared his throat and began, deciding not to worry about the last job. He was done, and he was happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am amazed at how well this is doing! I hope you guys are liking it! I'll update soon enough, though the next chapter will be long, so it may take a few days to write! Thanks for reading this, I really appreciate it! 
> 
> ~Silver


	3. We Need Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gold makes a reckless decision that winds up sending him and his brother far downstream

The blue slunk forward slowly, black eyes locked on his prey, tip of his tail twitching a bit. He tensed, crouching; he was close enough. He was in the perfect position to pounce. There was nothing his prey could do to escape. He growled and jumped, squawking shrilly. The cave slug didn't stand a chance. 

The thing tasted awful as it slipped over his forked tongue and down his throat. He pulled a disgusted face and shook his head. He hated slugs, they tasted awful and were too squishy for his liking. He would rather have anything else, though this deep in the cavern system the only things hatchlings could catch and eat were slugs, rats, and bats. There were blind catfish in the underwater river the two had been living near for the past few weeks, but they were much too big to catch. The hatchlings were about the size of common house cats; a massive catfish could easily swallow them. 

He looked up as a clicking sound echoed close to him. He was relieved to see that it was his brother, returning from his own hunt. He was smaller and more agile than the blue; he was the only one out of the two fast enough to snatch bats by the wing. The gold pranced over to him and gave the closest thing to a smile a dragon could pull; trust me on this, it looked freaking ridiculous. And possibly a little unnerving. 

“Good hunt?” The blue asked, walking to the river to get a drink. 

“Yeah. Caught a rat. Fat rat.” The gold followed him. 

The two had remained close over the past few weeks, going deep into the cavern system under the mountain they had been born in. They had searched several caves, finding no trace of other dragons. Their frequent returns to their home cave yielded nothing aside from the bitter sting of seeing their dead parent. Now, they stuck close to the river. Every prey animal had to come here for water, so it was a good place to catch food. 

“Good. Sleep now.” The blue coiled around a rock close to the water. 

The gold shook his head and looked at him with intense blue eyes. 

“No. Need to talk. Not getting enough food to grow here. Will die. Have to leave caves, go to forest.” He spoke evenly. 

“No, not safe. Don't know what in forest.” 

“Will never know if die here. Want to grow up, get fire and wings. Will starve down here.” 

“Not going in forest.” 

The gold narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. The blue was the more cautious and calm of the two. He never made any decisions without carefully considering them. Well, as carefully as an infant anything could do anything. The gold was much more adventurous, he wanted to see the world and explore. He didn't want to starve to death in these caves. He wanted to see the forest, feel the grass under his claws and the sun on his back. 

The gold looked down into the water. The blue wasn't going to leave unless something drastic happened. They couldn't stay here. He sniffed at the water, the little gears in his head turning. Something drastic...

He looked over at his brother, who was rubbing his back against his rock. A few blue scales chipped off, a regular process for young dragons. He chewed his lip a little with tiny fangs. It was now or never. His brother would thank him later. Probably. Maybe. 

He turned and jumped into the water, doing his best to keep his head above the current. He could vaguely make out a startled cry over the rushing water, a shape leaping in after him. He tumbled and struggled to stay up, spitting the water out when it flooded into his mouth. He choked and chirped in panic; this had been a horrible idea. Why the Hell did he do this!? He yelped as he was dragged over a rock, struggling and thrashing. He tried to look around, find his blue sibling in the sloshing white and gray water, but he couldn't see him. Dread settled in his stomach, making him feel sick. He hoped he didn't throw up; what a waste of a good rat. 

The rushing water continued to push him downstream, pulling him under. He kicked and squawked in panic, trying to get up, up to the air and the land and his brother! Where was he!? He couldn't get up, couldn't fight the current. Water was rushing into his mouth and nose, and snorting it out did nothing to help. Everything was fading, and he could only vaguely feel his tiny body being battered against rocks. Right before his vision went black, he felt something slick and large push against him. He weakly tried to pull away, but fell unconscious before he could escape whatever the thing was. 

 

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

 

The gold lifted his head groggily, vision swimming. He shook his head and winced; everything hurt. He looked himself over and rolled his lip in distaste. His golden body was littered with patches where scales had been pried off by rocks. It would take weeks to regrow those on his poor diet. He would have to hunt enough to feed himself and his brother-his brother! 

He jumped to his feet and looked around anxiously. His worries were put to rest as he spotted him, curled up and breathing slowly. He was still unconscious, though he looked to be stirring. He looked pretty banged up as well, and he knew he would be furious the minute he woke up. That was fine; he deserved it. He walked over and nudged him gently. 

The blue woke slowly and sat up, eyes a little glassy. Once he was coherent, he glared at the gold and growled. If he weren't his brother, he'd kill him! 

“Why!?!? Almost drowned try to save you! Idiot!” He barked angrily, puffing up to look intimidating; it didn't work. 

“Sorry, dumb idea! Will be fine! Maybe more food?” The gold replied, looking around. 

They had somehow wound up in a different cavern, one they didn't recognize. They were lying on a large bed of moss and leaves, flattened in a large patch. Something big slept here, regularly. It smelled heavily of dragon, and vibrant orange scales littered the ground. Both hatchlings gulped and looked around for an exit. There were two; one that led outside, into the light, and another that went farther in toward the river. 

“Have to get out. Scared.” The blue whimpered, tail curling around his leg. 

“Come on.” The gold jumped out of the moss bed, scampering toward the back exit. He froze as a large figure approached, then ran and jumped back onto the bed with the blue. The two cowered together, watching the creature as it came into view. 

A large orange dragon lumbered into the cavern, nostril flaring wide as he turned his head. His eyes were a dull white, and the pupils had fogged over. He was blind, though he seemed just as capable as any other dragon would be. He was wide and stocky, with a relatively short tail and massive wings folded neatly over his back. A few scars ran across his lower jaw and behind his head; something had once tried to pull his head clean off. There were also deep scars along his throat, curved like claws. Three horns grew atop his head, curving back just slightly; he was clearly an old dragon. 

“So you two finally woke up? Good, good. Rare to see hatchlings so deep in the caves. Parents should be keeping a better eye on you. If it weren't for the catfish, you'd be bobbing dead in the lake by now.” The orange dragon spoke in a deep, gruff voice. 

“Fish did this?” The blue asked quietly. 

“Yes, the catfish pushed you to shore, then splashed around and made noise until I went to see what was up. So where is your home cave? I'm sure your family is worried sick. Dunno what you two were trying to accomplish in the river, but it was a dumb idea. You could have drowned, and there are few enough dragons as is.” The old male snorted a bit. 

“Family killed. Don't know what.” 

The orange scowled at that. 

“Probably a human. Damn things kill us for eggs and scales and bones, all of it. Well, I can't send you out to live on your own. You'll starve on your own,” He clicked his claws against the ground as he thought, “Guess I should take care of you. Well, if you're staying here, you'll need my name. I'm Nikolaus Finch, just call me Nik. All my young have left the nest, and my mate died years ago, so it'll be nice to have company. What are your names?” Nik leaned down close to them, sniffing to memorize their scents. 

“Not have names. Family killed before hatch.” The gold replied. 

“Hmm, can't have that. Gonna have to teach you how to speak, too. I guess I'll name you, then.” Nik turned first to the blue, the one with the strangest scent. It made him think of smoke and pool halls, card stock and wood. 

“You'll be Tad Strange.” 

The blue, newly dubbed Tad, hummed loudly in approval. He may not completely trust the stranger, but he liked the name. Nik seemed kind enough, at least. He probably wouldn't eat them, and his golden brother had been right. They would have starved if they had stayed behind in the upper part of the caverns. 

Nik turned to sniff at the gold. It smelled like trees and dirt and fire. Both hatchlings had such odd scents around them. Well, maybe it was just that he hadn't been around other dragons in so long. He really couldn't even remember what his mate and offspring had smelled like. He snorted and returned his attention to the anxious hatchling before him. 

“Bill Cipher. Your name is Bill Cipher.” He decided with a curt nod. 

Bill grinned and spun in a circle. A name! They had names and a pseudo parent! Maybe leaping into the river had been a good idea. Or a swing of good luck wrapped in a horrible decision. Whatever.

“Alright you two. If you've been living alone, you must not be eating well. Stay and rest, I will go find something to eat and collect some moss to make you your own beds.” Nik stretched his wings out a bit. 

“How kill if can't see?” Bill asked, head tilting to one side. 

Nik chuckled at that; he had forgotten how...obliviously insensitive...young ones could be. This would be fun. 

“I've been blind for centuries, I can hunt better than most around here. Don't worry about it. You two sleep and there will be deer or cow for you when I return.” He walked outside and took off, a little shaky at first but quickly evening out. 

He circled over the forest and listened intently for any sign of prey. It had been a long time since he had hunted for another. He was a good hunter, but he was still nervous. Those hatchlings sounded young, and needed food to grow and mature. He hoped he could provide for them; he would have to hunt a lot more often now. He was sure he had made the right choice in taking them in, but it wasn't going to be easy in his old age.

A rustling drew his attention, and he swooped down. He hoped the little ones liked deer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading this! I'm very excited to keep writing. Updates may be slow, as I am preparing to begin running participants in the psychology lab I work in to begin work on my thesis! Busy, busy! I'll update hopefully once a week! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!


	4. Different Sets of Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel and Dipper train a little with some of Stan's guns. Neither of them enjoy the experience. 
> 
> Dipper spots a dragon he's never seen before.

Stanley watched each of them carefully, inspecting their form as they aimed the heavy guns at the cardboard dummy he had so cleverly nailed to a tree in the back yard. Dipper's arms were shaking with fatigue, and Mabel was barely keeping the weapon up. That was to be expected; these were heavy pieces of equipment. He had originally trained them with swords, but no one used those for killing dragons anymore. They required you to get too close to the actual dragon. 

“Alright kids, I want you to try firing one shot into the dummy. These guns have a strong kick, and you need to start adjusting to it. Mabel, you go first.” He spoke gruffly. 

Mabel nodded and squinted as she aimed. She carefully, and with a lot of effort, undid the safety and fired. The gun jumped and smacked hard into her shoulder, bringing a yelp of pain from the preteen. Her bullet wizzed over the dummy's head, vanishing into the forest. Mabel frowned and rubbed her shoulder, turning the safety back on and setting the gun down. 

“Not bad, it'll get easier. Alright Dipper, your turn.” Stan turned to look at the male twin. 

Dipper gulped and aimed, sweating nervously. He knew it was just a cardboard dummy. It looked way too cheesy to be a real dragon, yet he struggled. He had never liked the idea of slaying dragons. They usually kept to themselves, unless they were sick or the food supply was low in the mountains and forest. What gave them the right to go after animals for being animals? 

“We don't have all day, kid. Take the shot.” Stan reminded him, foot tapping impatiently. Dipper had always been a problem student. He loved learning the theory, the science and all that junk about dragons, from Stanford. Yet, when it came to the technical know-how, he struggled. 

Dipper gulped and fired quickly, whimpering at the painful kick and watching his bullet skid into the ground in front of the dummy. A warning shot. He sighed and set the gun down, rubbing his shoulder. He turned to look at Stan. 

Stan was watching him carefully, lips pursed a bit in thought. After a few tense moments, he shrugged. 

“At least you hit something, kid. Nice shot. You kids can go do whatever you want, I need to make some more things for the Shack.” He wandered inside, humming a little. 

Dipper sighed and walked inside, up the creaky stairs, and into the attic room he shared with his sister. He dug around under his bed until he fished out a worn leather book with a pine tree symbol on it, similar to the symbol on his trademark trucker hat. He sat back on his bed and flipped through the book. He had recorded most of the information from Stanford's journals in here, as well as some of his own things. There was a large section near the back devoted to dragons. Dipper had filled it with bits of information, drawings based on Stanley and Stanford's descriptions, and taped in scales and teeth. 

Dipper loved knowledge. He thirsted for it, wanted to know everything he could cram into his brain. He was especially interested in dragons. They were fascinating creatures. He had so many questions about them. How did their fire breathing work? When and how did they develop their language? How did they fly? Were their bones hollow and light, like a birds? Or did massive wing size make up for large body weight? 

He didn't want to learn how to kill dragons. They were dying out without human help, pushed high into the mountains by the progress of civilization. The very private creatures did their best to avoid crossing paths with humans. With civilization spread so thick, dragons had sought refuge in caves and deep forests. Now those places were being explored, and people seemed to think the giant scaly pests needed to be cleared out. 

Unfortunately, Dipper's family was on the list of exterminators. The Pines family had been in the dragon slaying business for centuries, and he and Mabel were expected to carry on the tradition. Mabel had shown a proficiency for it, though she disliked it as much as Dipper did. Of course, that was for a different reason. Mabel had no special place in her heart reserved for dragons. They scared her, she was terrified of them, as most people were. That didn't mean she was happy to go around killing them. 

Dipper shut his journal and opened the window, carefully climbing up onto the roof. This was his favorite place to go when he needed some time alone. There was a flat space just large enough for him, a few books, and a cooler to rest upon. He sat down and flipped the top of the cooler up, grabbing a Pitt Cola out and slamming it shut. He popped it open and enjoyed the hiss of the carbonated drink. He sipped it and looked out over the evening. 

He could see Mabel running around in one of her sweaters, Waddles the pig chasing her and squealing happily. She looked as if she didn't have a worry in the world. He knew that wasn't quite the case, but he still envied her ability to not be weighted down by her thoughts. He wished he could do the same. 

The evening grew dark as he sat in his spot. Mabel and Waddles went inside, and it was quiet out. The sky was dusting a light purple, and the forest was a mass of dark trees below it. The mountains loomed in the distance, imposing and curious, over their domain. This was Dipper's favorite time of day. Most of the animals in the forest would be waking up now, leaving their homes to hunt or graze. Everything was so calm and quiet. It was pleasant. 

His train of thought derailed, leaving no survivors, when he saw something flying toward the forest from the mountains. He stood up and watched with wide eyes as it got close enough for him to figure out what it was. He grinned in excitement as a large orange dragon circled over the forest, slowly getting lower and lower with every arc. He had only seen dragons flying around the forest a few times before this, and never at this time of day. The way those orange scales reflected the setting sun was amazing. He wished he was artistic; this would make a great painting. 

He decided to sit and watch. He would record this in his journal later. He had never seen this orange dragon before; in fact, he had never seen any dragons with such a bright color. Most of the scales Stan brought back from his jobs were green, black, blue, and rarely red. Those were the more common colors. An orange must be an interesting genetic mutation or something similar. 

He watched as the dragon suddenly looped down and vanished into the forest. He popped open the cooler and got himself comfortable. He was going to be here awhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said it would be a while before I got this chapter out, but I was on a freaking roll today! Also, I'm a severe insomniac who can't afford the sleepy sleepy pills I need. Guess that helps. Anyway, feel free to ask anything about the story or just share your thoughts. I really love hearing from you all, and I am so very happy that my demented writings entertain others! Anyway, thanks for reading! I'm starting to figure out a plot for this, so things will hopefully make sense. 
> 
> ~Silver


	5. Looking for Gnome's Beard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nik takes the two growing dragons into the forest to begin learning the lay of the land.

Nik listened cheerfully as the two hatchlings played. He could hear them squawking and hissing at one another, the sounds of claws and scales scraping the cave floor, the whimpers when one of them (cough cough Bill) was a little too rough. They had been living in his cave for almost a year, and Nik had grown quite attached to them. They really cheered him up, made his life a lot more exciting. It had been a long time since he had taught hatchlings, and these two had a lot to learn. 

Bill and Tad had both grown considerably, eating a much healthier diet of deer, owl, and the occasional gnome. Gnomes were a rare treat, as Nik had a hard time catching them, but the young ones liked them so it was worth the trouble. Both were about the size of miniature ponies, looking tiny compared to Nik's towering form, closer to the size of a two-story house. They ate voraciously, though Tad was always careful not to make too much of a mess. Bill enjoyed the mess, loved the contrast of red on his bright gold scales. It was a little disturbing to say the least, but Nik had long ago decided to avoid to subject. He didn't really know what could be done about it anyway. 

Nik shifted and stood up, snorting to catch the wrestling young dragon's attention. 

“We should go out into the forest today. You'll be breathing your first fire soon enough, and I need to teach you how to hunt before you go find your own home caves.” He explained, lumbering out into the mid-day sun.

“I don't want to find my own cave. I'd rather stay here.” Tad objected, following the older male dutifully. 

“I've explained already, you'll want your own place. Once you have your wings and have grown a little bit, it'll be time to find a mate. He or She won't be impressed if you bring him or her home to a blind old beast like me.” Nik chuckled at the retching sound both made. Ah, he remembered those days. Well, their tune would change, or it wouldn't. He would respect whatever the two decided to do. 

“So what are we gonna do in the forest? Can we hunt gnomes? I want to kill a gnome!” Bill hopped around happily, blue eyes shining with excitement; they had never been down the mountain before. 

“You two aren't ready to kill anything yet, aside maybe from yourselves if you're reckless,” He snorted and rolled his eyes, “Today, I just want to show you around. You need to learn what places are safe and not safe.” 

“We're dragons, everywhere should be safe. What's going to bother us?” 

“The same things that killed your parents and my mate. Humans. There are humans all over the world, living in small towns and vast cities. They kill us for hunting near lands they claim, and kill us for profit and sport. There are slayers in every village and city near here. Especially in Gravity Falls.” 

Tad and Bill both shuddered. They had heard many stories from the old orange about the slayers in Gravity Falls. Their family was well known. The Pines. Nik had instilled a sense of terror into the seemingly harmless word. Neither hatchling wanted to mess with humans willing and capable of killing grown dragons. 

“Do humans venture into the forest?” Tad asked meekly, scrambling up onto Nik's back. Bill followed, not wanting to walk all the way to the forest. It would take two hours at their slow pace. 

“Sometimes, but usually only around the edges. We will go deep into the trees. I want to show you a stream I'm fond of. You can usually find deer drinking from it, and a special kind of moss grows in the water. It's called Gnomes Beard, and it's very soft, good for building beds and nests. You'll need to know where it is when you are setting up your own caves in a few years.” Nik adjusted to their weight easily, lumbering down the mountain. 

Once they arrived at the treeline, the hatchlings jumped off of Nik's back and dug their claws into the soft grass. The soft, loamy soil felt very different from the drier stuff they were used to. Bill squeaked happily and ran full speed into the trees. Nik sighed and shook his head, following with Tad at his heels. 

“Don't go too far ahead, Bill! I need to be able to hear you at all times!” He called. 

Bill ignored him and kept running, loving the feeling of tree branches and vines slapping against him. The whole place smelled leafy and damp and new and he was home! He loved the forest, the green, the sounds of birds calling and frogs croaking, all of it. His heart raced in excitement, and he danced on his feet as he looked around. He paused as something moved a good distance away. 

The gold crouched low and crept forward, doing his best to stalk like Nik had taught him. He hid in a large bush, peeking out to see what the source of the sound was. Two strange looking creatures were walking away from him. They were stubby, fleshy things, wearing clothing and talking in a language he couldn't understand. They both smelled of dust and paper and something sickly sweet. Bill squinted, combing through his memory of lessons on forest creatures. 

Humans. Humans, in the forest. His first time out, and he runs right into two humans. They looked young, but he couldn't be sure. He had never seen them before, he didn't know much about their life cycle. He quickly considered his options. He could pounce and try to kill them, but he wasn't sure that would work. He couldn't even breathe fire yet. He was more of a large lizard than a small dragon. He could run, go back to Nik and Tad and learn about Gnome's Beard. That seemed like the more boring, but safe, option. It's what Tad would do, and his brother may be a bit of a coward, but he wasn't an idiot. 

Bill turned tail and fled. He didn't look back to see if they saw him, chased him, or ran themselves. He burst through the trees and kept running until he was skidding into Nik's side. The older dragon huffed in surprise and growled, poised to strike, then he seemed to recognize Bill's scent and calmed down. He leaned down and nuzzled him, Tad walking over to do the same. 

“You had us worried, Bill. You need to be more careful. What has you running so fast?” Nik asked him softly. 

“I saw two humans walking around. I ran, so I don't know where they went.” Bill panted, out of breath. 

Nik growled and scooped both of them onto his back. He opened his wings and took off, wobbling a bit at the additional weight of two surprised young dragons. They clung to him tightly as he wheeled into the air, arcing over the forest and back toward their mountain home. Tad squeaked loudly, anxious about falling. Bill panted and enjoyed the feeling of the air on his face, mouth hanging open. 

“We'll come back in a few days to learn about Gnome's Beard. I will not have you two in danger.” Nik growled, listening intently as he navigated back to their cave. He landed slowly, making sure he was settled before allowing the hatchlings down. 

Bill stared out over the forest, eyes narrowed. He was embarrassed and ashamed that two humans had scared him so badly. Sure, he had heard all kinds of horror stories, but he was a dragon; he shouldn't be afraid of anything. He wanted to get stronger, learn to hunt and breathe fire and fly. He wanted to be strong enough to explore the forest without fear. He wasn't going to let fear rule him. He would beat this and show those humans just how strong a dragon could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope this turned out well, because I re-wrote this chapter three times! It took me a while to figure out how soon I wanted to have the storylines converge. I'm thinking Chapter Seven will be a good time! Anyway, I hope you guys liked this! Let me know if you have questions or comments! I love hearing from everyone, it's a lot of fun! 
> 
> ~Silver


	6. First Time for Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel, now 18, go to slay their first dragon. It doesn't quite go as planned.

Dipper Pines followed his twin sister carefully, journal tucked under his arm and steps careful. He was tense, nervous, and already feeling a little nauseous. This was a test; he always got nervous when taking tests, but this one wasn't going to push him into A-range in history class. This was a test of a totally different nature. 

Grandpa Stan had selected an easy target for them. The dragon they were after had been grounded decades ago, one of his wings torn off in a fight with another male. He was old, tired, though still menacing. He had been living in the forest, as opposed to the usual mountain caverns the reptilian scourges usually preferred. The forest was much too close to home for something so dangerous to live, and the beast had made a bad, lazy habit of wandering to a local dairy farm and preying upon the cows. 

Mabel held her hand up to signal her brother. He stopped dutifully behind her, peeking around her to see what had caused the halt. Ah, they had arrived. The dragon in question was lying in the glen before them, curled lazily around a large tree and snoring. It had scales the color of red wine that had been spilled and left to soak in for a few minutes. Five horns curled up from its head, marked with dings and missing chunks. A few leaves were littered across its back; it had been sleeping for a good while. 

The twins exchanged glances. This was their last chance to back out. Neither of them really wanted to do this. Mabel loved all animals, though she was a little biased against the less cute ones. Dragons had terrified Gravity Falls for centuries, and both children had grown up on Stan's tales. It was time for them to inherit the famous Pines family legacy. 

Dipper was even more reluctant than Mabel. He agreed more with Grunkle Stanford; dragons should only be killed in the direst of circumstances. They should be studied. Little was known about them, and Dipper wanted to be the one to add to the knowledge. Call it pride. Yet, the moment the twins had turned 18, Stan had amped up their training. Now, a few months after that birthday, they were going to slay their first dragon. 

“Let's...let's just get this over with.” Mabel whispered, pulling her gun off of her back. 

“Yeah, just do it quick...try sneaking a little closer, you won't get a good shot from here.” Dipper replied as quietly as possible. 

Mabel nodded and began to slowly creep forward, eyes locked on the sleeping dragon. The beast didn't stir as she approached it, deep asleep. It was only when she got within ten feet than the animal tensed. Mabel froze, holding her breath, and cursed in her head. Fuck. She had forgotten that she was slightly upwind from it. The dragon could probably smell her. 

Both twins watched, horrified, as the dragon climbed to its feet and glared at Mabel with large red eyes. It sniffed at her, then curled its lip over its teeth in a deep snarl. It barked at them in thick Drakine, the language of the dragons. Mabel looked confused; she rarely paid attention when Stan tried to teach them Drakine. That was more Dipper's scene, and he understood loud and clear. 

“Get out of my home, before I force you out!” 

Dipper gulped and struggled through a reply; his Drakine was far from perfect. 

“We are sorry, but you have been killing....our prey...and we cannot let it continue.” His voice shook with fear. 

“It's hard to hunt forest prey without flight, human. I gave you two your chance. Now die!” The dragon screeched, and its throat glowed orange. 

Mabel and Dipper both hit the ground as the beast spit a viscous fluid into the air, which sparked and ignited into fire. Mabel rolled and swung her gun, shooting at it without having much time to aim. Her bullet bounced off of its side, and only served to make it angrier. It snarled again and slapped her hard with its tail, sending her skidding along the ground and knocking her weapon out of her hands. She yowled in pain and clutched her arm, which hung loose at the shoulder. 

Dipper didn't have time to think as the dragon loomed over his sister, his favorite person in the whole world. He acted purely out of desperation to save her. He ran forward and stooped to pick up the gun. The dragon turned quickly, but not fast enough. Dipper lifted the gun and fired three shots, right into the charging beast's open mouth. The dragon screeched in pain and fell to its side, whimpering. 

Dipper stood, panting, and watched the beast as blood dribbled out of its mouth. It coughed violently, spitting up more blood and some shrapnel from the shattered bullets lodged deep inside it. It tried to spew more fire at them, but only managed a spattering of fluid and some smoke. Dipper frowned miserably as the creature slipped into Death's gentle hands. His only comfort was the life of his sibling, and the knowledge that it had been a quick passing. 

“Dipper, are you okay?” Mabel asked, walking to his side, still clutching her shoulder. 

“I guess...come on, let's get you home. We need to have your shoulder looked at, I think it's dislocated.” Dipper shouldered the gun. 

“Hold up, Dip. You know Stan will want proof that we did the job.” 

“How about your fucking dislocated shoulder?” 

Mabel shook her head and handed him her hunting knife, and a small pouch. He sighed and slowly approached the corpse. It had been a beautiful dragon; this was the closest he had ever been to one. There was an obvious power to it, of course, but there was an elegance there as well. Its body was streamlined and smooth, perfect for a creature built to cut through the air like a razor. It had long claws, a powerful tail, sharp teeth; perfect for taking down anything they saw as food. There was a reason people had feared dragons for so long. They were not only strong, fast, and clever creatures; they were ancient. They had roamed the earth long before people had. 

“The things we could learn from them, Mabel. We know so little about them.” Dipper sighed. 

“I know, Dip, but they're dangerous. You're not going to get close enough to a dragon to learn its secrets. Let's get this done and go home. My arm is really starting to ache.” Mabel bit back a whine as her arm twinged. 

Dipper nodded and dug the tip of the knife under a redish-purple scale. He plucked it off and inspected it; it really was a nice color. He had never seen a dragon this shade before. He plucked out as many scales as he could fit in the pouch, leaving a large smooth area on the dragon's back. Some roving scavenger would appreciate that. Maybe a wolf or a Hellhound. Dipper stuffed the pouch into his pocket, grabbed his journal, and stood up. 

“Alright Mabel, let's go. It's getting dark.” 

Mabel nodded in agreement, and the two began to pick their way through the forest. It was quiet out. Nothing stirred as they left the dead dragon behind. Dipper knew it would haunt him, even if Stan would be proud of him. He would never forget what he'd done. This would give him nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will start picking up next chapter, so yay! I'll hopefully have it out by the end of the week! Thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Silver


	7. A Brief Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and Dipper meet very briefly. Bill decides he needs to learn more about humans.

Bill dug through the muddy water with the small horn on his nose, rooting around for more moss. Six years after hatching, he was finally starting to become a real dragon; he and Tad had both breathed their first fire, rather recently. It had been an accident, honestly. They had been wrestling in the cave, snarling and roaring at one another. Tad had pinned him; the blue was the larger, heavier of the two, Bill couldn't get him off. So, he did what he normally did in this kind of situation. He spat up the viscous fluid in his fire bladder, an organ at the base of the throat. The bile usually just stuck to his brother's scales and sizzled faintly. It had an unpleasant odor, so Tad usually backed off after being coated in the stuff. 

This time, the fluid had burst into bright blue flames. Tad had managed to duck away, staring at his golden brother in awe. Nik had celebrated his accomplishment, doubly happy when Tad managed to spit black flames a few minutes later. It was a huge milestone for young dragons. 

Now, both young ones had left Nik's cave. It was time to find their own. Tad had, unsurprisingly, moved into a nice cave close to Nik's. He was fond of the old orange, and didn't want to be too far from him. Tad was also extremely cautious and analytical; there was safety in familiarity. 

Bill had found a cave near the base of the mountain, so he could be close to the forest. He loved the forest, and spent most of his time wandering in it. He loved to hunt the most. He would climb up into a tree, wait for a deer or a gnome to wander by, then pounce. He was a messy hunter, staining the grass and his own scales red. He liked how it looked on his body. He was dangerous, and unafraid. The forest was his. 

Bill had grown into a formidable male. His scales looked like melted gold, with caramel colored spines running down his neck to the base of his long tail. The end of the tail was tipped with a similarly colored arrow-shape. Eight large horns, curling up and out in a crown around his head, gave him a regal appearance. He was streamlined and sharp, built for dodging trees and whipping through the air. He would give those slayers a run for their money. 

Tad was a thicker male, built more for land-based fighting, though Bill doubted his more cautious brother would have much reason for fighting. His scales had darkened into a deep blue, and five black horns curled back around his head. Black spines ran down to the very tip of his tail. He looked more fearsome than he really was. It was almost laughable. 

The young dragon scooped up more moss and draped it over his back, between the two large ridges rising from his shoulder blades. The starts of wings, ballooning out the skin and swelling. Once they were done, he would pop the ridges open and dry the wings growing within. He could hardly wait to fly. He knew he was going to be good at it. He was built for speed. He would make it a real fight to slay him. 

Satisfied with his moss, Bill turned back to begin the trek to his home cave. He had a bed to continue building, and it was getting dark. He was tired. It had been a long day. He walked at a leisurely pace, humming an old song Nik used to sing to them. He paused as a horrid stench assaulted him, and he curled his lip. Curiously, he turned and followed it. He knew the stench of death and rot anywhere, it was a very distinctive odor. He froze when he stumbled into a glen. 

Lying against a tree was what remained of a dragon, redish scales scattered around the ground and flies darting about in the air over it. It had been dead for several days by the looks of it, and the grass under it was stained with fluid as it decomposed. The gut had already burst from gas buildup, splattering the tree it leaned against. 

Kneeling next to the dead thing was a human male. He was about average height, with messy brown hair and a blue hat with a pine tree on it held in his hands. Pine Tree looked back at him with wide brown eyes, frozen in fear and awe. Bill felt a small swell of pride at that. Yes, he was quite stunning, wasn't he? Then the anxiety set in, and he narrowed his blue eyes at the human. 

Pine tree stood slowly, holding his hands up for peace. He took a step forward, and earned a low growl from Bill. The human froze and licked his lips nervously before speaking in broken Drakine. 

“Not going...hurt...you.” He seemed to be searching for his words carefully, and Bill couldn't help but be impressed by his even basic knowledge of his language. 

“You're the one who should be worried about being hurt.” He spoke carefully, muscles tensing. He had dreamed of this for years. Killing a human, eating one. Would it be tender, like gnome? Or more rugged and lean, like deer? It didn't matter, he was about to find out. Prove to others, and himself, that he had no reason to fear the tiny, fleshy creatures. 

“I know. I probably...earned it. For killing.” Pine tree gestured weakly to the dead dragon. 

Bill snorted. So this small thing had killed this dragon? Pathetic. Yet, he paused. He at least seemed apologetic, which really shouldn't mean anything. What should he care? But...Nik had said humans killed for fun, just for the sport of it. Something like that would never regret an action done for pleasure. Perhaps he didn't know as much about these things as he should. 

“You killed him. Why?” Bill sat down on his haunches, relaxing but not letting his guard down. 

“He was....attacking my sister.” 

Bill exhaled slowly. He could understand defending a sibling. He probably would have done the same thing, and the human looked sincere in his words. He stood after a short while and turned to walk back home. The human made to follow him, but froze at a warning growl from the dragon. Satisfied at the boy's tangible fear, Bill slipped into the foliage. He made it to his new cave without a hitch, plopping the wet moss down to dry. His mind raced as he lay down and stared out at the darkening sky. 

He had to learn more about humans before he decided what to do next. He had grown up wanting to get them back for all of the death, the systematic murder of his kind. He wanted revenge for all of the dragons slayed for scale and bone. Yet, perhaps his kind weren't as blameless as he thought. Sure, some deaths were surely for sport, but did that mean all were meaningless? The human had said the dead dragon had attacked his sibling. Defense was natural. He himself had killed many a gnome for trying to attack Tad or Nik as they walked through the forest. Dumb things. Learning about these things would probably be a good idea. He nodded to himself and curled up. 

He would find Pine Tree again, out in the forest, and learn from him. If he still felt like humans were to blame, then his course of action would be simple. Kill him. Him, his sister, and especially the Pines. Hell, he would probably kill the Pines regardless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally they meet. A very short, tense meeting, but the beginning of a learning experience for both of them. What could possibly come from this? Who knows? (Well, I do, but I'd be worried if I didn't...) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. More will be coming soon enough. 
> 
> ~Silver


	8. Let's Learn Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper goes out into the forest, hoping to meet the golden dragon again. He gets his wish, and the two talk for a little while. A deal is struck.

Dipper Pines triple checked his backpack. Journal, pens, rope, knife, a bag of cashews, and a couple of bottles of water. This should do for know. He planned to be out all day. The sun was barely starting to rise; he had to get out now before Stan got up. If he caught him skipping out on practice with the new guns, he'd be in a world of trouble. He could just explain himself later; that was usually easiest. 

Dipper pulled his bag over his shoulder and snuck down the steps. He walked slowly, each step creaking lightly as he moved. He peeked into Stan's room just to make sure the older man hadn't gotten up early. He could see him curled up in bed, snoring loudly and clinging to his pillow as if it was the most important thing in the world to him. Dipper rolled his eyes and continued on his way, stepping out onto the porch. He was surprised to see Stanford sitting in a rocking chair, sipping a mug of coffee and watching the sun go up. 

“Morning, Dipper. What are you doing up so early?” Stanford asked curiously. 

“I, uhm...I'm going out into the forest. There's something I want to check out.” Dipper replied; he wasn't technically lying. 

“Be careful then, never know what's wandering around. Go on, I'll cover for you, tell Stan I sent you out to run an errand for me.” Stanford smiled and waved him off, returning his attention to the blazing orange sun. 

Dipper gave a thankful grin and nodded, running off into the trees. He slowed down to a leisurely walk as he got farther into the forest. He picked his way over logs and around bushes and bunches of thorns. He hummed softly as he walked, eyes alight with curiosity. It was so peaceful out. He could hear birds chirping as they woke up, and the light from the rising sun filtered in and cast a light green hue over everything. It was a calming color, it seemed to drain the stress off the young man.

Stumbling into the clearing where he and Mabel had slayed their first dragon just a few weeks before, the young man sat down with his back to a tree. The dragon had been reduced to bone and a few loose scales by time and scavengers. He briefly entertained the idea of taking a few bones back to the Shack, but shook it off. He had already killed it; disrespecting its remains would only add insult to injury-well, insult to death. He settled in his spot and pulled out his journal, flipping it open and starting to comb through it. He touched up drawings that had smeared, and added a few facts to some entries he hadn't updated in a long time. 

He didn't know if the golden dragon would return to this spot. He hoped so. He had never seen such a beautiful creature. Its glittering scales and piercing blue eyes haunted his dreams even more than the killing of the red dragon did. He didn't quite understand it. While most people his age were concerned with dating and college and finding their own places to live, he was becoming obsessed with dragons. He wasn't even remotely interested in much else. He wanted to learn more about them, and for some reason, he felt like the gold was his opportunity to do just that. 

He was startled by a hot puff of breath on his head. He looked up and froze. How had he not heard or seen the creature approaching him? Mabel was right; he was way too oblivious to outside stimuli when he got to thinking. He really needed to learn to be more observant. 

The golden dragon towered over him, long neck curled so it could stare at him closely. He leaned as far back against his tree as he could, trying to bite back the fear bubbling in his gut. He couldn't hide his apprehension from the dragon; he was trembling, his eyes were wide, and he had gone very pale. The dragon seemed amused by this, snorting and pulling away from him. It walked a few yards away before curling up elegantly, looking down its snout at him haughtily. Silence reigned between them for several long moments before the beast broke it. 

“What's your name, kid?” 

Dipper blinked at it, stunned. What a simple question. He had expected, like, a riddle or a threat or something. Maybe even a snarky comment or a joke about burning down villages. He blushed a bit when he realized the creature was still waiting for an answer. 

“Dipper. Uhm, what...yours?” He went even redder at his poor Drakine. 

The dragon chuckled and wrapped its long tail around itself, settling in more comfortably. 

“Just call me Cipher. That's all you need to know, Pine Tree.” It spoke calmly. 

“Cipher. Okay...why are you here?” Dipper opened his journal to a fresh page, scribbling notes quickly. The dragon narrowed his eyes at him, then snorted and shifted a bit to scratch at the two large ridges along his back. They had started to itch recently; his wings would be ready to open in a few months. 

“I live nearby, idiot. I came down here to see if anything was feeding on the dragon carcass. I've caught a lot of gnomes out here recently,” Cipher shifted again to leer down at the boy, “So listen kid. I've got a deal for you~” 

Dipper froze and watched the amused creature carefully. He had never heard of dragons making deals with humans before. That was more for demons and the like. He gulped. 

“What kind of deal?” 

Cipher clicked his tongue and yawned, showing off several pointed teeth. Dipper couldn't help thinking that it would be very unpleasant to be on the receiving end of them. He had to remind himself that while talking to a dragon was cool and interesting, it was also dangerous. They were unpredictable. He could become prey any moment, or say something wrong in his poor Drakine and make Cipher mad. Cipher seemed pretty relaxed at the moment though, confident that this human couldn't hurt him. 

“Well, it's obvious you wanna learn about dragons, and I wanna learn about humans. I don't know much about them, aside from what my father-figure taught me. So I'll answer a question of yours, and you answer one of mine. We'll go back and forth until I get bored and leave. Deal~?” Cipher watched him, tail flicking back and forth like a cat. 

Dipper mulled it over only briefly. There really wasn't a bad side. He would potentially learn things no one knew about dragons, and could help this one learn as well. There wasn't really a drawback. 

“Deal.” He answered confidently. 

Cipher pulled his lips back over his teeth in an attempt at a smile; it was thoroughly creepy. 

“Good call, Pine Tree. Alright, I'll go first. You seem to be near mature age. Are you living alone, or have you yet to leave the family dwelling?” He asked cheerily. 

“I live...with family. Sister, two uncles,” Dipper smiled, “ What about you?” 

“I just left my family cave to live in my own. Alright, so when do humans leave the family dwellings?” 

“Most around my age. I just...have not gone yet.” 

Cipher nodded a bit. So Pine Tree didn't want to leave home yet. Tad had been the same way at first. He hoped Pine Tree wasn't going to be as much of a square as his brother. 

“So what are those big ridges on your back?” Dipper asked, gesturing to him as if he had to point them out. 

“My wings are growing in. In a few months they will itch like crazy and I'll rip them open. Then I'll be able to fly,” Cipher puffed up proudly, “Alright, this is my last question for today. I need to think some more. Why do you want to learn about dragons? You told me last time I saw you that you had killed that one.” He nodded to the skeleton. 

“Well, I've always thought dragons were really interesting, even though they scare me too. I want to learn about them, not kill them. I only did that to protect my sister. I regret it every moment, awake and asleep.” Dipper sighed sadly. 

Cipher sighed and leaned back some, drumming his claws against the soft ground. The kid seemed sincere once again. He probably couldn't really TRUST him, but he wasn't worried about being killed by him. The kid was curious, too. A little scientist in the making, how cute! 

“Got anymore questions, Pine Tree?” Cipher asked. 

“Just one, for now. Can I sketch you? I keep a journal of everything I learn, and I wanna put you in it too.” Dipper looked up at him hopefully. 

“Let me see some of your work first. If I'm gonna be drawn, I want to be drawn by someone with skill.” Cipher chuckled at memories of Tad trying to scratch drawings into the dirt. Man he couldn't draw for shit. 

Dipper blushed a bit and walked closer to the dragon, slowly. He sat a few feet in front of it and opened the journal, showing him the pages slowly. Cipher leaned down to get a better look, squinting to look at the tiny drawings. The kid was passable; certainly better than Tad. He hummed and nodded. 

“Sure, knock yourself out kid. Need me to pose for ya?” Cipher chuckled, puffing smoke out of his nostrils. 

“No, thank you. This...fine. Will be fine.” Dipper sat back and began to carefully draw the dragon, paying attention to every minute detail. 

“Sounds good. Keep practicing your Drakine, kid. Your accent is awful, but you sound passable.” Cipher hummed at the lovely shade of pink the human turned at the compliment. What strange creatures. 

Dipper laughed and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the journal as he drew. 

“I'll do my best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some actual interaction! I hope you guys like this! The updates may slow down a little bit, as my research is picking up a little bit and I have a lot of editing to do on other writing. I'm also losing motivation due to some long standing personal issues, which I'm really fighting through. Anyway, let me know what you think. 
> 
> ~Silver


	9. Exploring and Hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper shows Bill something he found in the forest when he was a child. Meanwhile, Nik is driven into a rash decision by hunger and the ravages of aging.

Small droplets of rain splattered the loamy forest soil as the gold dragon lounged in the glen, waiting for the human he insisted upon calling Pine Tree to show up. Rain had never stopped the inquisitive boy before, he didn't expect it to bother him now. Sure enough, the boy appeared, carrying a large purple umbrella over his head. Bill snorted and climbed to his feet, shaking some water off of his body. He gave the boy one of his creepy dragon smiles before speaking. 

“Good to see the rain didn't slow you, Pine Tree.” He hummed a little. 

“A little rain never hurt anyone.” Dipper shrugged casually; over the past few weeks, he had grown much more relaxed around the dragon. It hadn't shown any interest in eating him, and he hoped things stayed that way. 

“That is true, I suppose.” Bill walked over to a large tree and stood on his hind legs, pressing his back to the rough bark and squirming. 

“What are you doing?” Dipper tried to hide an amused grin, but the dragon caught it. He was getting better at reading human facial expressions, just as the human was getting better at speaking Drakine. 

“Just itching where my wings will grow in. Give me another couple of months and I'll be flying. So, what was it you wanted to show me, kid?” Bill lowered back onto all fours once he was satisfied with his back. 

Dipper smiled and motioned for the dragon to follow him as he ran past and deeper into the forest. Bill yawned and stretched before following him leisurely. Rain splattered his scales and bounced off pleasantly, and he found their chill calming. The darkness of the forest as the clouds obscured the sun was also nice. He could go for a nap once the curious human was done leading him who knows where. 

He shifted his eyes up to watch the human scurrying around bushes and over fallen trees. He was built for navigating the forest, and had obviously been exploring the place for years. His experience didn't prevent the occasional fall or scrape, and his arms were littered with cuts and bruises from such accidents. Pine Tree also had a skill for getting into trouble; he was often telling Bill stories of fights with gnomes and gremoblins. Bill would in turn tell tales of hunting trips and fights with Tad. Their strange “friendship” hung on the thread of their deal; they learned from one another, though neither revealed too much. Both were secretive. 

Dipper grinned when he found what he was looking for. Bill paused behind him. The human had led him to a large crystal in the middle of the forest. Light shone through it, either blue or pink. It was stunning. The dragon made to approach it, but was stopped by a tiny hand against his chest. He froze and looked down at the human; he had never touched him before. 

“Be careful. The crystal is magical. The pink light shrinks things, and the blue light makes them grow.” Dipper warned, lowering his hand a little nervously. 

Bill looked back up at the crystal curiously, blue eyes shining. He scooped up a rock and tossed it into the pink light. It fell to the ground with a soft sound, shrunk to the size of a pebble. Bill grinned and threw another rock into the blue light, laughing as it hit the ground heavily, now a large boulder. 

“What a curious place. How did you find this?” He asked. 

“When I was younger, my sister was teasing me for being shorter than her. I found this place and used the crystals to make myself taller, but it all went wrong. We got everything fixed eventually though.” Dipper shifted to sit under a tree, smiling as the rain slowed down. 

“Interesting. I'll have to take a piece back to my cave, a nice little souvenir.” Bill smashed one of the smaller crystals with his tail. He scooped up a chipped piece and hummed. 

“I still have the piece I took back at home. I've collected all sorts of things over the years.” Dipper smiled at the amused chuckle he earned from the dragon. 

“I can only imagine,” Bill yawned and curled up on the ground, finding himself a mossy patch to use as a makeshift bed, “I'm going to take a nap. Don't try anything funny while I'm asleep, Pine Tree. I'm not above eating you.” 

Dipper nodded quickly. He had hoped the dragon would trust him more, but he could understand why that would be wishful thinking. Cipher had told him once that humans had slayed his parents. He only hoped they weren't people he knew. He would probably never know. He sighed and leaned against a tree, listening to the forest as the gold dragon snored several feet away from him. 

 

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Nik swore as the deer bounded just past the reach of his claws. He could hear it racing away; there was no way he could catch up to it, he was too old. Too old to be struggling to feed himself like this, and being blind only made things worse. He hadn't had a successful hunt in a couple of weeks, and he was getting desperate. He could ask Tad or Bill to help, but he didn't want them to worry. They would figure out soon enough that no one lives forever anyway. 

The old orange walked languidly through the forest, sniffing at the air, hoping to stumble upon a carcass. Scavenging was low for a dragon, but it was better than starving. He paused when the texture of the ground under his feet changed from mossy loam to stiff grass. He was closer to the edge than he had known. This was farmland. He hissed and froze. He couldn't smell any humans nearby, but he could smell something else. 

Cattle. 

Nik chewed his tongue thoughtfully, shifting on his feet. Cattle were easy kill. Large, too; one cow would keep him fed for a few days. But it was dangerous. If the farmers caught him, it could lead to an untimely death. The greedy things would send slayers after a dragon at the loss of a single cow. He growled and shook his head, turning to wander back into the forest and try catching a deer again. A sharp pain ran through his stomach, so sharp it made him hunch over. 

“I can't hunt like this...I'll end up another pile of bone and scale in the forest at this rate...” He sighed and turned back to where the scent was coming from. 

He made quick work of the first cow he managed to grab, sinking his claws into its sides. The panicking animal brayed loudly, and he heard the slam of a door being thrown open. Shouting reached his ears, and he growled angrily. Damn it all! He grabbed the still squalling animal and took off clumsily. He ignored the shouting humans and kicking cow as he flew, navigating back to the front of his cave. He managed to land near the edge of his cave, crushing the cow under him and spraying himself with its blood. The warm, sticky substance dripped down him, but he ignored it. 

Hunger drove him to ignore the pain in his joints and the stiffness of his wings as he dug in to his kill. He relished the feeling of flesh sliding down his throat. He ate as much as he could, not being picky about what went into his stomach; muscle, fat, fur, bone. He could digest all of it, and would be glad to. He would worry about the repercussions of his sloppy hunting later. He was getting old anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh, looks like we may have trouble! I hope you guys like this! Sorry the update was a little late; I got a tattoo recently and am healing up rather nicely! I'm already working on designing my next one; they really are addictive! Haha! Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. 
> 
> ~Silver


	10. Can You Keep a Secret?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel does a little snooping into Dipper's life, and find something concerning

Mabel snuck quietly through the Shack, green eyes locked on her brother's hunched over form. The man was sound asleep, having passed out after two consecutive all-nighters. The paranoid Pines twin had suffered from insomnia since he was a child, and it had only gotten worse with age. Doing all of that research at night probably didn't help. It had always concerned Mabel, but lately Dipper had been getting a lot worse. Something was up, and she suspected a peek into his journal would provide the answer; or at least a clue. 

She was a concerned sibling; what could she say? She crept carefully to Dipper's side, but there was really no reason for such theatrics. Dipper was deep asleep, and not even the howl of a Hellhound right in his ear would rouse him. Mabel could snoop in peace; for his own good, of course! Her own curiosity had nothing to do with it!...well, okay, maybe her reasons weren't completely altruistic, but still! She had to make sure Dipper wasn't getting involved in anything too dangerous! 

The girl took the journal carefully off of Dipper's desk and crept out of the room. She carried the leather-bound book into her own room, jumping onto the bed. Once settled in a comfortable position, she flipped the book open and began to scour through it. Dipper deserved more credit than he was given. He was becoming quite the scientist; if Stan saw this, maybe he wouldn't be so upset with the boy for continually skipping out on training to wander in the forest. The drawings and descriptions of the monsters around Gravity Falls were detailed and painstakingly done. Bits of bone, fur, feather, and scale were taped in carefully. It was similar to their great-uncle Ford's work. The two really were too similar for their own good. 

Some of the later entries caught Mabel's attention. There were detailed drawings of a magnificent young dragon, young enough that it didn't have its wings. She had never seen this dragon before. It was clear that this hadn't come from Dipper's imagination; details were scribbled next to each drawing. The girl knitted her brow; where had Dipper seen this creature? 

Scanning the pages more carefully, she found several worrying entries. She read aloud to herself. 

“Cipher has proven himself to be the most trustworthy creature I have ever encountered. He has provided me with amazing insights into Drakine culture and knowledge. I still have so much to learn from him, and he from me. This deal is working out wonderfully, and it's silly that I was worried about it at all!” Mabel sighed and pinched her brow. 

So her brother had made some sort of deal with someone or something named Cipher. Was Cipher another scientist? Some creature in Gravity Falls? The girl looked back over the detailed drawings of the dragon. Under the first was a scrawled, looping name in black ink; Cipher. Ah. So Cipher was the dragon. 

Cipher was the dragon! 

Mabel stomped upstairs and threw Dipper's door open. Dipper startled awake, staring at her groggily and yawning. She threw the journal down in front of him and waited expectantly. Her brother stared at the book dumbly for several seconds. Once his brain finally registered “Oh shit kid”, he groaned and rubbed his eyes. 

“Mabel, how many times have I asked you not to go through my stuff?” He tucked the book back into his backpack. 

“That doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're out having tea with a dragon! The things our family has been slaying for centuries, Dipper!” Mabel whispered harshly, not wanting either of the Stan's to hear them. 

“Yeah, and I'm learning more than any of the Pines before us ever did, even Grunkle Ford! Mabel, this is a great opportunity for us to learn more about these creatures. Bill has been providing me with information we simply can't get from killing them.” 

“Dipper, what happens when he figures out you're a Pines, huh?” Mabel gave him a concerned look, “You're out playing interview with a dragon while I'm training with Stan! Our family is pretty well known by people AND dragons for what we do. When your scaly friend figures out who you are, do you really think he'll just shrug it off?” 

Dipper scowled angrily. 

“Yeah, he will! My family name doesn't define who I am! Ford is a Pines and he doesn't kill dragons.” He reasoned. 

“Yeah, but he used to, just like Stan did, and you know it. Just because he hated it as much as we do doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can't get away from the repercussions of what our family has been doing, Dip!” 

Dipper sighed and stood up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He pulled on his signature hat, pulling the brim low over his eyes. 

“I shouldn't expect you to understand. I'll see you later. I have another tea party scheduled with Cipher.” Dipper brushed past his sister and ran out. Mabel frowned and watched out the window as he vanished into the forest. She sighed and walked down into the kitchen. 

Stan was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper and eating an omelet he had made. He looked up when Mabel walked in, frowning at the concerned look on her face. 

“What's bothering you?” He asked, setting the paper aside. 

“Well...” Mabel chewed her lip. She didn't want to bust her brother if he really thought he was doing the right thing, and Cipher hadn't tried to hurt him yet...

“So what if someone is spending time with someone who...uhm, could be trouble? Like, they could get hurt if this other person found out about a secret?” 

Stan grunted. 

“What, is Dipper dating some girl or guy or gender-neutral thing I should know about? Kid's weird enough to get into that kind of mess.” he chuckled. 

“No, it's nothing romantic. As if Dipper could get a date,” Mabel rolled her eyes; her brother hadn't shown interest in dating since his childhood crush on Wendy, “No, it's more of an odd and potentially bad friendship.” 

“Ah, I dunno. Just keep an eye on things I guess. And tell me if someone needs to be punched in the face.” 

Mabel laughed at the mental image of Stan punching a dragon in the face. Hell, for all she knew, it had happened before. She was going to ask, but Stan interrupted her thoughts by clearing his throat. The old man's face had gone from playful to serious very quickly. 

“Mabel, I've got a job for you. I'd send Dipper to help, but honestly he isn't cut out for this business, and I guess I'll just have to accept that. You're good enough to handle this one on your own anyway, it shouldn't be too hard.” He spoke quietly. 

Mabel sighed and nodded slowly, settling in her chair to hear about the assignment. She hated this business, would prefer knitting sweaters and doing crafts, but she couldn't get away from it. Not when she was a Pines with skill in murder. It was times like this that made her envy Dipper's ability to sneak away from this. Maybe he could escape the Pines legacy, but she sure couldn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, I finally got this written. Sorry it's been slow, I've been busy! I threw in references to all sorts of little things, which was fun. Things are getting more tense here, and will only continue to do so. I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to drop a comment in!
> 
> ~Silver


	11. Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill finally opens his wings, and goes to show off to Tad. A bit of a filler chapter before shit gets real.

It was getting to be too much. Honestly, this was more annoying than gnomes and fairies combined. Bill growled as the itching in the two large ridges along his back continued. His growl alarmed Pine Tree, who looked up from his perch on a log a few feet away from him. 

“Cipher? Are you alright?” 

He really had to commend the kid. His Drakine had improved tremendously. Practice had made nearly perfect, though his accent was still atrocious. He would focus on that later. 

“It's just my wing ridges. They've been itching and burning something awful these past few days.” The large golden dragon nearly whined, which Dipper found endearing and hilarious. 

“Are they going to open up soon?” Dipper asked, turning his journal to a fresh page in excitement. 

Bill stood carefully. 

“Very soon. I can't take this anymore. This may be unpleasant to watch, kid.” He waled over to the thickest, sturdiest tree he could find. 

Dipper watched, wide-eyed, as the massive creature began viciously rubbing one of the bulbous ridges against the tree. He could hear the sound of rough bark grinding against smooth scale, and he could see little flecks of gold fluttering toward the ground. Bill was growling and swearing, pushing harder against the tree. Finally, the ridge tore open. Bill yowled in pain as blood and a viscous yellow pus dribbled from the wound and down his side. 

Out of the torn flesh jutted a large wing, dripping wet with the same fluid running down the dragon's side. Cipher turned his long neck to observe the wing, flexing and rotating it slowly. It was large and leathery, gleaming gold in the filtered forest light. Through the pain in the dragon's blue eyes, Dipper could see pride and elation glowing. He smiled as Bill held the new appendage out to dry. 

Bill made quick work of tearing open the other wing, purring loudly once both were out and drying. Dipper smiled and began sketching in the journal, letting his thoughts wander as he drew. He was still upset over his little scuffle with Mabel. It had been a couple of days since then, and both siblings had gone to pretending nothing had happened. Yet...well, the fight was still there. There was a tenseness in the air, and Mabel seemed to breathe a sigh of relief whenever he came home from the forest. 

Dipper couldn't blame her for her concern. Of course she was worried. The two of them had been inseparable for most of their lives. It was only now, as they had hit maturity, that their paths began to diverge. Mabel trained with Stan, becoming a pretty good dragon slayer. She hated the work, but believed that someone had to do it, and it might as well be someone who is skilled at it. Dipper turned instead to Ford and his more scientific pursuits. Even his strange friendship with Cipher was based on a desire for knowledge. He already knew more about dragons than anyone ever had, and it was difficult not to share his knowledge with his great-uncle. 

“Hey kid. Make sure you get my good side!” Cipher chirped gleefully, breaking Dipper from his thoughts. 

“Don't you worry, I've got it handled.” Dipper chuckled and finished up the sketch within an hour. It was a little rough, but he could improve it at the Shack. 

Bill looked his new wings over and grinned wide, showing off sharp teeth and pink gums. The wings had dried, and it was time to test them out. 

“I'll have to see you later, kiddo! I need to go show off to my brother.” Cipher opened his wings and took off into the air. 

The dragon was unsteady at first, wobbling in the air. Honestly, it looked a little ridiculous. Thankfully, Bill quickly got the hang of it. He loved it, the wind flowing around his body, the green carpet of trees so far below him, the contrast of his gold scales against the faded blue of the sky. It was exactly what he had needed. He bellowed loudly and arced above the forest, flying toward the mountains. He scoured the peeks for his brother's cave; Tad had chosen a cavern deeper in the mountains for safety. He spotted it soon enough and began circling over it, getting closer to the ground on each arc. 

He landed clumsily. It was less a landing and more of a sloppy crash into the ground. He was lucky he was tough, and he jumped up before Tad could see him looking so foolish. Image, you know. Important to dragons and all that good stuff. He waited patiently for Tad to walk out and praise him, but after a few minutes he ventured in to investigate. He found his blue brother in a state similar to his previous one, rubbing his remaining wing-ridge against the wall of his cave. 

“Well I don't envy your thick-skin now, brother. Having some trouble?” Bill chuckled at his brother's plight. 

“Yes, the first was simple enough to open. But I've been working on this one so long, my other wing has already dried!” Tad fluttered the dried, black wing at him. It was smaller and slimmer than Bill's, but had a dangerous sharpness to it that would certainly intimidate prey. 

“I can help you.” Bill trotted over and looked the ridge over. It had been worn a little thin by Tad's attentions, but the skin was still rough and matted up. Bill growled and bit into it, shaking his head to tear the skin with his teeth. He ignored Tad's pained yowls as the ridge burst open. He retched at the taste of the fluid that spilled into his mouth, spitting it onto the ground and backing away. 

Tad stretched the newly freed wing out to dry, giving his brother a thankful smile. 

“What can I do to repay you?” He asked. 

Bill glanced outside and frowned at how dark it was already becoming. Flying home now could be hazardous with how new he was to the venture, and walking home would take hours. 

“Share some of that manitaur meat and let me crash here tonight and we can call it even.” He chuckled and curled up. It had been too long since he visited his brother. He would have to go show off to Nik once the sun rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I won't be able to update for a little while. I am going to be helping a friend move into her new apartment, then flying out to visit my family for a week. I have little privacy at my family's home, so writing anything aside from my research could be a point of stress. Complicated situation and all that. Anyway, once I'm back things will start heating up! Thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Silver


	12. Orange and Rust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel does as Stan had told her too, and Tad and Bill visit their father-figure to show off their wings. It doesn't go well...

Mabel panted as she ascended the gentle slope of the mountain, gun slung over her back and empty scale pouch hanged limp at her side. It had been quite a climb to get up this far; she would need to rest before going into the cave. She paused once she reached the jagged mouth of the den. Orange scales littered the ground, as did bits of what she assumed was cow bone. This was the place. 

The young woman sat a few feet away from the side of the cavern, drinking greedily from her bottle of Mabel Juice. This dragon was supposedly very old, but she would still need her energy and wits about her to slay it. Old dragons were clever, tricky, and could often be more difficult than young drakes. After about half an hour of psyching herself up, Mabel stood and approached the cave. 

She paused when she entered, looking around for any advantages she could use. Smooth walls, shallow drinking pool, bits of bone everywhere. Not much she could really do with that. She would have to just rely on her marksmanship. She squared her shoulders and pressed on, following the deep rhythm of heavy breathing. Finding the dragon wasn't very difficult; the large orange lump was coiled tight around himself. 

Nik lifted his head as the unfamiliar scent assaulted his nostrils; sweet, woodsy, flowery, human. He groaned and turned in the general direction the smell was coming from. He heard a small gasp; female, probably reacting to his clouded white eyes. He uncoiled a bit and cleared his throat. 

“Pines. I assume you're here to slay me?” He drawled slowly, voice creaking with age. Hell, everything on him creaked these days. 

“I'm sorry about this...it isn't something I enjoy doing, you know...” Mabel spoke softly, tears stinging in her eyes as she observed the ancient beast before her. She had never met a dragon so old. Dipper was right, they had a lot to learn from these creatures...but she had a job to do. 

“You don't regret it. I know your family, Pines. You slayed my mate, you slayed most of my offspring, you slayed the parents of my wards. You revel in the rust of our demise. Bathe in the chemicals stewed from our bones, wear our teeth and scales as trinkets, sell our young for scraps of paper stolen from the yew of the forest. I do not need your scripted apologies.” Nik stood shakily, teeth bared at the effort. 

Mabel bit her lip, trying to bite back the sting of his words and get the job done. She quickly pulled her gun off her back and aimed it at the beast; one shot, right to the soft spot in front of the heart. It wouldn't be painless, but it was the best she knew how to do. She sighed and tried to speak through a dry throat. 

“Any last words?” 

The orange dragon clicked his tongue and glared in her direction defiantly. He held his silence, letting the disdain and hatred he felt scream from his otherwise useless eyes. Blind as he was, he was still capable of expression. Frail as he was, he was still capable of leaving the hardest wounds to heal; wounds of the heart, the soul, and the mind. This young Pines would never forget him, not for all the slayings and praise and reward in the world. 

Mabel gulped shakily and pulled the trigger, closing her eyes as the ground shuddered with the impact of a several-ton body dropping heavily. The orange did not struggle through his quick death, choosing instead to lie on his side and close his eyes. Mabel kept her distance until several minutes of stony silence had passed. She approached the body slowly and looked him over. The dragon was thin, frail, with patches of scales already fallen out. He wouldn't have lived a great deal longer regardless, though this didn't lessen her guilt at all. 

She sighed and looked around the cave again, pausing at the sight of scales on the floor. Most were the beautiful orange of the old beast she's just killed, but some were a deep blue. More concerning was the glittering gold. She paled as images from Dipper's journal flashed through her mind. She quickly gathered several scales into her pouch and ran out of the cave. The stench of blood was nauseating, and she had to warn Dipper. She had made a terrible mistake, and he could pay dearly for it. 

 

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Bill laughed loudly as he easily wheeled past his brother, watching the dark blue dragon growl in frustration at his antics. He was delighted to be faster than Tad; the two turned everything into a competition, and Bill loved to win. The two circled over the mountain range, slowly going lower and lower as they prepared to land. It was a pleasant day, and the sunlight warmed their bodies and gave them energy. It was the perfect day to drop in one their adoptive father and see how he was doing. Neither of them had visited for a few weeks; it had been way too long. 

Tad landed first, as Bill had circled slower than him to soak up more sun. He trotted into the cave proudly, new wings held up though he knew Nik couldn't see them. 

“Nik, guess who got theiiiiiirrrrrrr...wings...” Tad froze as the scent of blood and rot assaulted him. He trembled as he slowly appoached the orange mass lying on the floor of the cavern. He nearly threw up at the sight; Nik had apparently been dead for a few hours. Flies and rats had found him quickly, and were making quick work of him. A single, large would was blasted into his chest, and dried blood caked the ground. Tad swallowed the lump in his throat and whimpered. 

“Nik...?” 

Bill flew in after a few more minutes, walking in with a swagger to his step until he too noticed the state their elder was in. He growled angrily and roared loud enough to shoo away the scavengers that had gathered to do what scavengers do. The gold walked to his brother's side and sat down. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tad spoke. 

“What happened to him...?” His voice was soft and broken: if dragons could cry, he would have been. 

Bill looked around and tried to sniff through the heavy odor of death. He closed his blue eyes and concentrated. A small trace of something flowery and sweet caught his attention. It was eerily familiar. It reminded him faintly of Pine Tree, but it wasn't quite...right. Bill growled as realization. Pine Tree had a sister, the one he called Shooting Star. This was her scent. 

Shooting Star had killed Nikolaus. Pine Tree's twin. Bill snarled and stood up suddenly, startling his mourning brother. He should have known, should have figured out that they were Pines! It was obvious, really. Hell, the kid's hat had a freaking pine tree on it! 

“I'm an idiot! The Pines did this! A Pines killed him!” Bill growled, tail sweeping violently over the ground in agitation. 

Tad growled angrily, shuffling his wings. 

“What do we do? We can't let them get away with this!” 

“You're right about that. The Pines have been slaying us for too long. Human kind forces us into the mountains and slays us when we try to live normal Drakine lives. Well I'm tired of having loved ones taken because of fear and greed. Those humans want a reason to be afraid of dragons? I say we give them a reason to be afraid of dragons.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything for this. I've been really busy; senior year of college and all that. I would be at work right now, but I'm sick, so I'm updating! 
> 
> ~Silver


	13. Preparation for What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel have a brief conversation about what has happened. Bill amasses an army.

Mabel sat by the door impatiently, waiting for Dipper to come home. She was anxious; very anxious. She hoped she wasn't too late: she could only imagine some of the awful things Cipher might do to her brother if he met with him again. He had to know by now. With all the lessons their great uncle Ford had given them on dragons and their advanced sense of smell, she knew her scent had been picked up, and the similarities to Dipper's can't have gone unnoticed. Dipper was a dead man walking if the golden dragon caught him. 

Relief flooded her as Dipper walked in, the front door banging shut behind him. She immediately swept him into a tight hug, squeezing tight. Dipper patted her back gently and chuckled. 

“Gosh, Mabel, what's all this about?” he asked quietly, keeping an ear out for the Stans. 

“Dipper, I screwed up! I screwed up bad! Come on, we need to talk in our room.” Mabel dragged him upstairs, closing and locking the door behind them. 

“Alright, Mabel, what is all this about?” Dipper sat down on the edge of his bed, watching as Mabel paced back and forth. 

“Here,” Mabel handed him a small pouch, “I got these from my last job. I think you need to see them.” 

Dipper gulped and prayed silently that the scales within wouldn't be gold. He felt relief when thin orange scales fell into the palm of his hand, but it was short lived. Hadn't Cipher mentioned that his father-figure was an orange? It was such a rare color, there was no way this was another dragon. Realization dawned on him, and he felt bile rise in his throat. 

“You killed Cipher's father-figure. Mabel, this is terrible! He's gonna be pissed! Oh no, what do we do? What do you think he's going to do?” 

“I don't know, you're the one that's been spending time with him all Summer! What do YOU think he's going to do?” Mabel bit back at him, tears stinging her eyes. 

Dipper bit his lip at that. Cipher had been perfectly patient with him, but he was a dragon, and he did have some violent tendencies. He enjoyed how his gold scales looked flecked in blood, delighted in hearing bones crunch, and always enjoyed feeling something squish under his teeth. Friend or not, Cipher was a dragon. They were dangerous, especially when they were angry. He couldn't avoid the truth. 

“He would probably kill you, but maybe...I can go to our meeting spot. He wouldn't hurt me, we're friends. I can try to talk him down.” Dipper suggested slowly. 

“Dipper, I know you don't believe that. It's not a good idea. Even if you are friends or whatever, he could still hurt you through blind rage. A well trained dog can still bite.” Mabel tried to reason with him, a rare opportunity that would be more appreciated later. 

“He isn't a dog, Mabel. He's capable of rational thought and reason.” 

“Sure, but not when he's angry!” 

Dipper pouted in irritation and jumped up, grabbing his journal. 

“I can talk to him! You and the Stans stay in the Shack until I get back! I'm going to go sort this mess out!” 

Before Mabel could stop him, Dipper ran out the door. She gave a sharp cry and followed him, bursting past a confused Stan. She cried out after him, but he had vanished into the forest. She stopped at the treeline, staring lost into the thick forest. Stan walked to her side, beer in his hand and frown deep across his face. 

“What's he doing, running into the forest at night like this?” He growled, sipping his beer. 

“Something reckless...” 

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Bill sat at the top of the mountain, watching as dragons he had never met crept in quietly and settled on the ridges below him. He had asked them not to fly; for this task, discretion was completely necessary. Their quarry had to be unprepared. He ignored the curious chatter from some of the gathered dragons: they would have to stew in their curiosity until he felt he had enough to begin. 

Tad sat by his side, slightly below him, and watched him in reserved silence. He didn't agree with this plan. If there was a record, he would wish for that to be on it. This wasn't the right course of action. Yes, he was upset and angry at the murder of their father. Yes, a violent part of him would love to feel the crunch of the slayer's skull in his jaws. Yet he knew it would only make things worse. 

“Bill. Please, rethink this. You know this won't help.” He tried again to make his golden brother see reason. 

“Quiet. I am not changing my mind. This will send a message those monsters shall never forget. I won't let Nik go unavenged.” Bill growled out of the side of his mouth, keeping his bright eyes locked on the dragons still slinking in. 

“Nik would not have wanted this.” 

“Nik is dead. What he would have wanted no longer matters.” 

Tad worried the inside of his lip. 

“What exactly do you plan on doing?” He asked quietly. 

“First I will talk to these dragons, get them on my side. I'll tell them my plan for revenge not just for our lost loved ones, but theirs. There is going to be a lot of sentiment here tonight, Tad. Then I will go to the forest, and wait for Pine Tree.” Bill licked his lips. 

“Pine Tree? What are you going to do when he shows up?” 

Bill sighed and knitted his brow some, ignoring the hushed questions from some of the dragons nearest him. He sent them harsh looks, earning silence even from males older and larger than he. The air of power and anger around him gave him a regal and threatening appearance. None of them wanted to push their luck. 

“I haven't decided yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long hiatus! School and all that stuff. I'm going to be doing some grad school applications soon, so updates will likely be slow. Thank you for reading!
> 
> ~Silver


	14. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cipher goes through with a rash, horrible decision. Dipper is forced to watch. The story ends, for now.

Dipper sat with his back against his favorite tree and waited. It was eerily quite out, usually a pretty bad sign that things were not going to go very well. He hoped his story wouldn't fit into that cliché. It had been a while of waiting, about forty minutes, and he was beginning to think that Cipher wasn't going to show up. Part of him hoped that Cipher wasn't going to show up. He may have talked a big game to Mabel about how the gold dragon would never hurt him, but as time dragged on he became less sure of the fact. Killing him would probably be pretty easy; Cipher could eat him with little trouble and that would be it. Dipper chuckled anxiously to himself. He was getting more and more nervous as time passed; maybe he should just leave. 

Leaving suddenly left the table as Dipper heard a large thud nearby, the ground shuddering a little under him. He gulped and sat completely still, waiting for what he hoped was Cipher to join him. He breathed a sigh of relief when the familiar golden dragon approached, but it was short lived. The dragon's expression was unreadable, which had to be a bad thing with Cipher. Dipper cleared his throat and tried to speak, but no sound came out. The tension in the air silenced him. 

“Your sister killed Nik, Dipper Pines,” Cipher's nostrils flared with a broiling rage, “You did nothing to stop her.” 

“I'm so sorry, Cipher. I didn't know she was assigned to slay Nik.” Dipper gulped as Cipher towered over him. 

“You knew your family would come after us at some point, and you did nothing! You didn't tell me you were a Pines, you didn't warn me of the danger you and your ilk posed to us!” Cipher was beginning to lean closer to him, speech devolving more into deep growls and licks of flame, “You could have prevented this! You could have warned me to move my family! You were my friend, and you held your tongue!” 

The golden beast sat back on his haunches and exhaled smoke from his nose, steeling his temper and watching the trembling human in front of him. The boy's hair stuck to his forehead and neck with sweat, and Bill could smell its tang in the air. He could also smell the salt of Dipper's tears, and see the redness they left as they streaked his face. Well, he mused to himself, if the human wanted to cry, he'd give him something to really cry about. 

With an evil glimmer in his eyes, the dragon snatched Dipper up in his claws and took off, arcing toward the town of Gravity Falls. 

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Mabel trembled under the scathing looks her two great uncles were giving her. She knew they had every right to be angry with her, really, but was now really the time to be lecturing her? She didn't think so, but they seemed to disagree completely. It was halfway through Ford's lecture on sharing important information with the family when she finally convinced them to hide in the basement. Initially, Stan wanted to grab his gun and fight. However, upon seeing the sheer amount of dragons perched around the town in angry, colorful rows, he admitted that hiding might be the best solution. 

“So Dipper is out there right now trying to reason with their ringleader? That kid's gonna get himself killed!” Stan barked, masking his anxiety with anger. 

“We have to believe he can do it. He has to.” Mabel gulped, sweater pulled up to her chin and bright eyes wide. If Dipper wasn't able to calm Cipher down, the consequences for the whole town would probably be immense. 

“We should have known something was up. We should have kept a better eye on the both of you, but especially Dipper. That kid is too curious for his own good.” Stan griped. 

“A lot like the both of us, Stanley. This situation isn't ideal, by any stretch of the imagination, but we have to trust Dipper now. Nothing else we can do.” Stanford replied, masking his own anxiety with bitter calm. 

Mabel chewed her lip and wrapped her arms around her legs. She hoped her twin knew what he was doing. 

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Dipper clung to the arms of the dragon for dear life, feeling nauseous as they rose higher and higher into the air. The sight of literally hundreds of dragons watching them approach was doing nothing to help ease his mind or his stomach. He looked up, hoping to see any sign of friendship within the blue eyes of the golden dragon, but saw only resignation. He gulped loudly, and turned away, just in time to see a large, dark blue dragon fly over. The two circled one another as they spoke. 

“So this is the human who started all of this mess.” The blue drawled thoughtfully. 

“Yes, this is Dipper Pines. He's joining me so he can have the best seat in the house. Do you know what is about to happen here, human?” Cipher glared down at him. 

“I really hope not...” Dipper replied meekly. 

“I'll tell you. You're going to hang here and watch as my army razes your pathetic town to ashes. Then we'll move to another town, and another, until you humans are hiding in caves like we have had to do for the past several hundred years!” The dragons below bellowed triumphantly as Dipper shrieked in protest. The boys cries fell upon deaf ears, as Bill signaled the dragons to begin. 

With a sound akin to several cars back firing at once, flame consumed the town of Gravity Falls. Shrieks rose from the people who, despite the wall of dragons around the town, had not hidden in their basements. The smell of burning hair and flesh assaulted Dipper, only increasing his horrified shudders and sobs. He desperately hoped his family had hidden deep underground. Nothing else could have possibly saved them from the onslaught. 

Cipher signaled again, and the flames stopped. The burning town crumbled as buildings fell and metal bubbled in the heat. With a satisfied smirk on his face, the golden dragon arced away from the smoldering town, clutching Dipper close to him. He easily ignored the boy's sobbing and furious pounding against his scales. The sounds of hundreds of dragons following him rang in his ears, and he felt a kind of sick pride at what had just happened. The part of him that reasonably recognized that this whole situation was not Dipper's fault screamed at him that he had gone over the line, and that Nik would never have wanted this. The rest of him thirsted for more, and wanted Dipper to witness the destruction of his world as he knew it. 

Dipper looked back over the remains of his home, but was too far away to see his family push through the rubble that used to be the Mystery Shack. He didn't see them as they watched the hoard of dragons leaving. He didn't see the determined look in his sister's eyes as she resolved to give chase and rescue her brother. And he didn't see their uncles claps her shoulders as they agreed to go with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. I want to apologize for literal months of absence! I have been ridiculously busy with school and work and research, but I graduated from college and am working two jobs. This is the last chapter of this story, and I am struggling with ideas for more to write. 
> 
> ~Silver


End file.
